Four held for duping Fatehgarh Sahib man of Rs 30L in digital arrest fraud

The police busted a gang of cyber criminals who allegedly cheated residents after threatening them with digital arrests. Four members have been arrested while a hunt is underway for three others.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Subham Aggarwal said the complainant, Harpal Singh Cheema of Lohari Kalan, lodged an FIR with Cyber Crime Police Station. He alleged that a WhatsApp caller threatened him with digital arrest and even presented him before a fake judge online. A few hours later, another caller asked him to deposit Rs 30 lakh in an account to avoid arrest. After completing the transaction, the victim realised that he had been duped and reached out to the police.

An SIT identified seven accused. SP(D) Rakesh Yadav said the police arrested Maninder Singh and Naveen Sharma, residents of Delhi, Anil Kumar of Noida and Akbar Ali of Malappuram and recovered Rs 9 lakh.

DSP(H) Hartesh Kaushik said those absconding have been identified as Javed Alam, a resident of Bihar, Parteek Kumar of Noida and Rishad Melakkam of Kerala and a hunt is on to arrest them.